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Review: the Eurostar Premier lounge at London St Pancras station

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This is our review of the Eurostar Premier lounge at London St Pancras station.

It’s been over two years since we last reviewed the lounge so I thought it was worth an update. The name of the lounge has changed following the recent renaming of Eurostar travel classes. It is now the ‘Eurostar Premier’ lounge rather than ‘Eurostar Business Premier’.

Remember that you can access this lounge with a personal American Express Platinum card – there is no need to book an expensive Eurostar Premier ticket.

Eurostar Business Premier lounge St Pancras

Entrance to the lounge is on the right hand side of the concourse – it’s easy to spot as you can see above.

You either have to be travelling in Eurostar Premier or have Carte Blanche or Etoile status to get in, unless you have a personal UK, French or Belgian American Express Platinum card. There is no option to pay. If you go through the fast track security and passport line it is literally ten seconds additional walk.

The geometry of the station and the available space means that the lounge is long and thin. It does, however, get plenty of natural light thanks to its large windows overlooking Kings Cross.

It is split over two floors:

Eurostar Premier Lounge St Pancras

The lounge was virtually deserted when I arrived because we were a little early and there is an odd two hour gap between Paris trains on a Saturday morning. It did fill up considerably prior to departure.

Access to the upper floor, which is the best place to sit because most people never make it up there, is via a shiny spiral staircase.

Eurostar Premier Lounge St Pancras

At the top you are greeted by the cocktail bar, which unfortunately doesn’t operate at the weekend:

During the week it opens at, I think, 3pm. There is a similar cocktail bar in the Paris lounge.

Further on is a small self-serve drinks area with wines, spirits and soft drinks:

Eurostar Premier Lounge St Pancras

…. plus a few snacks. Food has always been virtually non-existent in Eurostar lounges and it’s worse than usual during a weekend mid-morning. Your options were crisps or three different types of bread (no butter):

Eurostar Premier Lounge London food

The seating upstairs has been replaced in the last year or so. The replacements are cloth covered and physically smaller than the old leather seats.

Connectivity is fine – despite what you see below, most pairs of seats have a table with built-in charging between them.

Eurostar Premier Lounge St Pancras

Here are some more of the new smaller seating styles. The old maroon carpet has also been replaced with the new black and white one:

Eurostar Premier Lounge London seating

and

Eurostar Premier Lounge St Pancras

The selection of magazines and newspapers remains outstanding – better than any airport lounge I know. It seems to be unfashionable to do it these days, even though most publishers are willing to provide copies free of charge and it helps cultivate an upmarket image for the lounge.

Eurostar Premier lounge London magazines

The rack above is just a fraction of the selection available across the two floors.

Conclusion

Natural light, a cocktail bar, self-pour spirit and drinks – you can’t really ask for more. The food offering is slim (OK, let’s not be too polite, it is terrible) but then you can expect a meal service if travelling in Eurostar Premier or Eurostar Plus (the old Standard Premier).

It can get crowded during busy periods but I’ve never had issues getting a seat, either here or in Paris. In general, the earlier you arrive the quieter you will find it and you can take your pick of the seats. The peaks and troughs are more noticeable in Paris where there are fewer departures.

Remember that Eurostar lounge access is a benefit of American Express Platinum (see our review here) – just show your card at the door.  It is not a benefit of Business Platinum. No guests are allowed but obviously your partner could come in if they were your free Platinum supplementary cardholder.  The lounge is also known to show leniency towards additional child-sized guests at weekends.


How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards

How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards (February 2025)

Club Eurostar does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Club Eurostar points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you will get the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.

American Express Platinum comes with a great Eurostar benefit – Eurostar lounge access!  

You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, by showing The Platinum Card at the desk.  No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a free supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.

Comments (42)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Princess says:

    I loved the cocktail bar the cocktail were very well done, we also haven’t had problems entering with our 2 kids 8 years old

  • Kwab says:

    “ Access to the upper floor, which is the best place to sit because most people never make it up there, is via a shiny spiral staircase.” This could not have been further from the truth last Friday at 4pm. Both floors were heaving!!!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      No surprise at 4pm on the Friday before the holiday season but generally the article is correct upstairs is quieter

  • Ash says:

    The cocktail bar not opening at weekends was a disappointment when we arrived last Saturday at 16.30 to find this out. The Paris one was fantastic for a free bar and a lot of effort was put into making the cocktails.

    • Andrew J says:

      You can also request French sparkling wine (not Champagne) from the staffed bar, and other staff will get it for you when it’s closed.

  • Matthias says:

    Both lounges also have an excellent selection of craft beers in cans, which are rather tempting to take away for the journey…

  • Andrew J says:

    Whilst Eurostar have kept the unfashionable approach with the magazines, they have followed the crowd by doing away with mineral water and replaced with a tap water fountain. Which is a shame as the small bottles of water were handy to take for the journey, which you were encouraged to do by the table of them by the exit door.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Insee a lot of people on trains / flights with their reusable bottles these days so a guess people are adjusting to 2025.

      It’s a shame but I understand the reasoning

    • Lee says:

      I agree. The little water bottles were nice to take with you on the train. The food options are a disaster. They should do better. The F&B is embarrasing…

  • Dominic says:

    On weekdays the upstairs cocktail bar dispenses excellent smoothies at breakfast time .

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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